Wireless communication systems transfer signals from a transmitter (TX) of one station to a receiver (RX) of another station. In some applications, one of the stations can be ground-based (i.e., stationary) while the other station can be carried by a flying object (e.g., a satellite in Earth's orbit or an airplane). In some applications, multiple stations (TX or RX) can be ground-based and in communication with one or more flying objects (RX or TX). Such systems can be used for providing Internet connectivity, e.g., in regions where providing Internet connectivity via a land-based network is underdeveloped. The airborne RX/TX can be carried by unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) that fly over the ground-based stations within an assigned area. The land-based stations can include a customer premise equipment (CPE) station belonging to telecom companies that provide internet connectivity to their customers.
In some applications, areal distribution of the CPE stations can be uneven. For example, a large number of CPE stations may be clustered within a relatively small area, while few CPE stations may be distributed over a large area. Additionally, different CPE stations may be associated with different data bandwidths. For example, some CPE stations may be associated with signal throughputs in multi-gigabit per second (Gbps), while some others may be associated with signal throughputs in megabit per second (Mbps). As a result, the UAV may service areas on the ground having significantly different data throughputs.
In some conventional technologies, one or more “buffer” UAVs can be added to absorb the surges in the bandwidth (e.g., data throughput) demand. Alternatively, additional equipment (e.g., transceivers, antennas, power supplies, etc.) may be added to the existing UAVs to service temporary surges in the bandwidth needed. However, doing so increases the price and decreases the utilization of the UAV equipment. Furthermore, the size, weight and power specifications of the additional equipment may exceed the available capacity of the UAVs, especially for the solar powered UAVs. Accordingly, it can be advantageous to have airborne systems that are robust, economical, and capable of providing variable TX/RX data throughputs to meet the variable demands of different CPE stations.